Bridge plan in doubt: City of Lawrence balks but relocation effort still in play

By Aubrey Woods
First Posted: August 31, 2012 - 10:13 pm
Last Updated: August 31, 2012 - 10:13 pm

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The city of Lawrence has backed away from its plans to incorporate a historic covered bridge from Jackson County into Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park.

That doesn’t mean the 142-year-old Bell Ford Bridge won’t find its way into that state park or another park or trail in Marion County, a county official said Friday.

“Tom Crouch is trying to get one of the other organizations involved to take the bridge,” Jackson County highway superintendent Warren Martin said.

Crouch is the former director of redevelopment for the city of Lawrence, which is on the northeast side of Indianapolis.

Martin said a change in administrations after the 2011 election led to Crouch leaving the city, Martin said.

And the administration of new Mayor Dean E. Jessup decided the Bell Ford Bridge, which once spanned East Fork White River between Seymour and Cortland, wasn’t a priority, Martin said.

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